High pressure contact switch having an operating lever and two arcuate ballraces foreach contactor



Feb.. 6, 1968 E. T. PLATZ 3,368,050

HIGH PRESSURE CONTACQn SWITCH HAVING AN OPERATING LEVER AND Two AECUATEBALLRACES ECR EACH CCNTACTOR Flled March 4 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. EM/ 7". @472' Feb. 6, 1968l E. T. PLATZ 3,368,050

HIGH PRESSURE CONTACT SWITCH HAVING AN OPERATING LEVER AND TWO ARCUA'TEBALLRACES FOR EACH CONTACTOR Filed March 4, 1966 5 SheetS-'Shee 2 E. T.PLATZ Feb. 6, 1968 C HGH PRESSURE CONTACT SWITCH HAVING AN OPERATINGLEVER 4 AND TWO ARCUATE BALLRACES FOR EACH CONTACTOR Filed March 4, 19665 Sheets-Sheet E Feb. 6, 1968 E. T. PLATZ 3,368,050

HIGH PRESSURE CONTACT SWITCH HAVING AN OPERATING LEVER AND TWO ARCUATEBALLRACES FOR EACH CONTACTOR Filed March 4, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 4...FJ-c3; .5. ...fra- 5a 24 v I ZZ 22E-51.75. f2-E27.

E. T. PLATZ Feb. 6, 1968y HIGH PRESSURE CONTACT SWITCH HAVING ANOPERATING LEVER AND TWO ARCUATE BALLRACES FOR EACH CONTACTOR Filed March4, 1966 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 z EL? 4.

25 O d o QQ rcs; EE.

aUnited States Patent Gtitice annessa Patented Fel). 6, 1968 3,368,050HIGH PRESSURE CONTACI` SWITCH HAVING AN OPERATING LEVER AND TWO ARCUATEBALL- RACES FOR EACH CONTAC'IOR Elwood 'I. Platz, Grosse Pointe Farms,Mich., assigner to I-T-E Circuit Breaker Company, Philadelphia, Pa., acorporation ot Pennsylvania Filed' Mar. 4, 1966, Ser. No. 532,007 7Claims. (Cl. 20d- 162) This invention relates to switching devices, andmore specically relates to a high pressure contact switch.

Switches which include means for reception of series fuses are wellknown to the art which are rated at 200 amperes, 600 volts. Suchswitches commonly should be capable of closing on and withstanding anavailable short circuit current of at least 50,000 amperes when usedwith normal fuses or with a current limiting fuse.

It is also necessary for such switches that they have a low temperaturerise so that the device can carry its rated load in an eicient manner.

In accordance with the present invention, a novel switching mechanism isprovided for a high pressure contact switch which includes a U-shapedpivoted contacter assembly for each pole with a very high pressurespring in the order of 320 lbs. located inside the U of each contactorwhich exerts an outside pressure to obtain a contact pressure in therange of 180` to 190 lbs.

An operating lever is then provided for each contactor for rotatingarcuate ballraces which includes camming surfaces to obtain an extremelyhigh mechanical advantae over the 320 lb. spring, thereby to permit easyoperation of the contacter.

An overcenter spring is then connected between a handle actuator and atie-bar which controls an operating lever for each phase which is inturn connected to the contactor through the ballrace arrangement foreach phase, thereby to obtain quick make and break operation.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention is to provide a novelhigh pressure contact switch which has high short current-withstandingcapability and has the capability of quick make and quick break.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel high pressurecontact switch which has visible contact blades.

A further object of this invention is to provide a novel high pressurecontact switch which has a low temperature rise under rated currentconditions.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel highpressure contact switch which as a positive break arrangement.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a novel highpressure contact switch which can be easily operated between the makeand break position regardless of thehigh contact pressures obtained.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a novel highpressure contact switch which is low in cost.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel high pressurecontact switch which may be front or side operated.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from thefollowing description when taken in connection with the drawings, inwhich:

FIGURE l is a side plan view of the novel high pressure switchmanufactured in accordance with the invention, and is a side plan Viewof FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 2 is a front view of the novel high contact pressure switch ofthe invention with the device in the ON position, with the top portionof the base cut away to obtain a better view of the internal features.

FIGURE 3 is a top view of FIGURE 2 as seen across the line 3 3 in FIGURE2.

FIGURE 4 is a view similar to FIGURE 2 with the device in the OFFposition.

FIGURE 5 is a partial plan view of one of the contactor assemblies ofFIGURES 1 through 5 with the contacter assembly in a mid-portion of itsmovement from the OFF position to the ON position.

FIGURE 6 is a front plan view of a. second embodiment of the inventionwhichuses a side operated handle as contrasted to the front operatedhandle of FIGURES l through 5.

FIGURE 7 is a side cross-sectional view of FIGURE 6 taken across theline '7--7 in FIGURE 6l.

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of FIGURE 6` taken across the line -d in FIGURE6 to show the side operated handle.

FIGURES 9 and 9a are front and side views, respectively, of the contactoperating level of FIGURES 1 through 5.

FIGURE 10l is a front plan view of the A ballrace of FIGURES l through5.

FIGURE 11 is a view in FIGURE 10 taken across the lines 1I-I1 in FIGUREl0.

FIGURE l2 is a cross-sectional view of FIGURE 10 taken across the lines1212 in FIGURE l0.

FIGURE 13 is a front view of the B ballrace of FIGURES l through 5.

FIGURES 14 and l5 are views taken. across the lines 14 and l5,respectively, in FIGURE 3.

FIGURE 16 is a front plant view of the D ballrace of FIGURES l through5.

FIGURES 17 and 18 are a side plan view and a crosssectional view takenacross the line 18 in FIGURE 6, respectively.

FIGURE 19 is a front plan view of the C ballrace of FIGURES l through 5.

FIGURES 20 and 21 are views taken across the line 2G and 2l,respectively, in FIGURE 19.

FIGURE 22 is a iront plan view of the Uashaped movable contact ofFIGURES 1 through 5.

FIGURE 23 is a side view of the left-hand contact blade of FIGURE 22.

FIGURE 24 is a side view of the right-hand contact blade of FIGURE 22.

FIGURE 25 is a portion cross-sectional view taken across the lines 25 inFIGURE 23.

FIGURE 26 is a cross-sectional view taken across the line 26 in FIGURE23.

FIGURE 27 is a front view of the spring actuator of FIGURES l through 5.

FIGURE 28 is a bottom View of FIGURE 27.

Referring to FIGURES l and 2, a contactor subassembly for each pole ispivoted to the base 2 on the pivot pin 5 which is a press t in the topportion 3 of the base. Base 2. is carried on mounting plate 1. Eachcontacter subassembly has a high pressure spring 6 which biases the leg'7 of the U-shaped movable contact 4 (FIGURES 22 through 26) .againstthe line contact 8 and the leg 9 of movable contact 4 against the loadcontact It).

As most clearly seen in FIGURE 3, wire grips 5a are mounted on the linecontacts 3 and the fuse clips 5b are mounted on the load contacts 10.The fuse clips for the other end of the fuses associated with the switchcan either be mounted on the top surface 3 of the base 2 or on aterminal block located above the base 2.

Each contacter sub-assembly has a conventional carriage bolt litaextending through clearance holes in the legs 7 and 9 of the movableContact. A square portion under the head of the carriage bolt is a neatt in square hole i2 of the operating lever 13 (FIGURE 9) so that thecarriage bolt is prevented from turning relative to the operating -lever13 for adjustment purposes to be eX- plained later.

As clearly shown in FIGURE 1, the carriage bolt a also extends throughthe spring 6 and through clearance holes in the ballraces A, B, C and D.Ballraces A, B, C and D are shown in figure groups (10, ll, l2), (13,14, 15), (19, 20, 21), and (16, 17, 18), respectively. Threeballbearings 14 are positioned between each pair of ballraces as shown.The nut 15 on the carriage bolt 10a is adjusted and locked so that theballraces are slightly loose in the ON position of FIGURE 1. It is thusapparent that the spring 6 can exert its full force to expand the legs'7 and 9 of the movable contact 4, respectively, against the sta-'tionary contacts 8 and 10. The carriage bolt will, however, prevent thelegs 7 and 9 from expanding excessively in the open position which willbe explained or become more apparent later. The movable contact 4 hasreduced sections 16 (FIGURE 22) which permits the legs '7 and 9 tospread easily despite the relatively thick copper of which the contactis made but will not appreciably reduce the electrical conductivity. Itwas necessary to employ Copper of this thickness to prevent the legsfrom bending from the 320 lb. pressure which the spring 6 exerts.

The ballraces D (FIGURES 16, 17 and 18) has a continuous circular groove17 while ballrace C (FIGURES l19, 2O and 2l) has three arcuate embossedpockets 18 Which keep the ball-bearings 14 properly spaced. The outside19 of these ernbossments 18 register in the pockets '20 (FIGURE 23) inthe leg 9 of the movable contact 2 as 'the means of location thereto.The ballraces A (FIGURES 310, 1l and 12) and B (FIGURES 13, 14 and 15)have arcuate embossed pockets 21 similar to pockets 1S in balltrace Cexcept that the pockets 21 are also sloped as shown in FIGURES 16 and14, to act as cam surfaces. The outside 22 of these pockets 21 inballraces A register in the pockets Z3 (FIGURE 24) in the leg 7 of themovable contact 4. Similarly, the outside 24 of the pockets in ballraceB register in pockets 25 in the operating level 13 (FIGURE 9). The slopeof the pockets in ballraces A and B is such that the legs 7 and 9 on thecontact 4 are compressed or moved together when the operating lever 13,

as viewed in FIGURE 2, is rotated counterclockwise as in turning theswitch to the OFF position by means to be explained later.

An operating lever pin 26 (FIGURES 1 and 2) is riveted into the hole Z7in the lower end of each operating lever 13. The Shanks 28 ot these pinsextend into the holes 29 in both ilanges 30 of the tie-bar 31 ofinsulating materia-l. The tie-bar 31 is thus movably supported by theoperating levers 13 and pivotally connects them so that they can beoperated in unison into their ON and OFF positions by means to bepresently explained.

The actuator 32 (FIGURES 27 and 28) has a downward circular extrusion 33acting as a bearing in the hole 34 in the mounting plate 1. The handle35 which is of square metal has a bent portion 36 which extends into asquare hole 37 in the circular extrusion 33 of the actuator 32. Thehandle and the actuator thus rotate in unison. The .actuator bracket 55is a support for the upper part of the handle. The actuator 32 has ahole 38 in its oiset extension 39 for attaching one end of the mainspring 46. The other end of the main spring is connected in the circulargroove `41 in the actuator pin 42 which is carried by the tie-bar 31 inaligned holes through both of its anges 30. The spring thus constitutesan overcenter spring connection between the tie-bar 31 and the actuator32.

The actuator 32 also has a flange 44 with a post 45 for engagement withthe positive break lever `46 in a manner to be described later. Thepositive break lever 46 is pivoted on the fixed post 47 and has oneextension 4S which engages the actuator pin 42 and another extension 49which is engaged by the post 45 of the actuator 32.

The mode of operation with reference to the ON position of FIGURE 2, isas follows:

Since the line of action of the main spring 4i) is to the left of theline X through the hole 38 in the actuator 32 and the center of itsbearing 33 in the mounting plate, it is apparent that the actuator willbe biased in a counterclockwise direction and the tie-bar 31 will beurged and retained to the left holding the operating levers in the fullON position as shown. When the actuator 32 is rotated in a clockwisedirection by the handle 33 toward the OFF position, the spring 40 willcause the tie-bar 31 to move quickly to the right into the OFF positionof FIGURE 4. It will be apparent that this movement will also cause theoperating levers 13 to quickly rotate in a counterclockwise direction.When the operating levers 13 rotate in this manner, the ballrace Erotates in a like manner and the slope in the arcuate pockets 21 willcause the jaws 7 and 9 of the movable Contact 4 to be drawn toward eachother until the contact pressure to the stationary contacts 8 and 1t) isrelieved. Continued counterclock- Wise movement of the actuator levers32 will bring the ilanges 50 formed from these levers into engagementwith the lower left-hand edge S1 on the movable contact 4 causing thesecontacts to pivot on the pivot pins 5 and rotate in a counterolockwisedirection into the full OFF position of FIGURE 4.

During the movement described in the previous paragraph from the ON tothe OFF position, the post 45 on the actuator 32 will have engaged theextension 49 on the positive break lever 46 causing this lever to rotateclockwise and its extension 48 to engage the actuator pin 42 to move thetie-bar 31 to the left. This action will positively cause the contacts 4to move to the OFF position even though the main spring 40 becameinoperative.

In the OFF position of FIGURE 4, since the line of action of the mainspring 40 is to the right of the line Y through the hole 38 in theactuator 32 and the center of its bearing 33 in the mounting plate, itis apparent that the actuator -will be biased in a clockwise ydirectionand that the tie-bar 31 will be urged and retained to the right holdingthe operating lever in the full OFF position as shown.

When the actuator 32 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction by thehandle toward the ON position, the main spring 46 will cause the tie-bar31 to move quickly to the left into the ON position of FIGURE 2. It willbe apparent that this movement will also cause the operating levers 13to quickly rotate in a clockwise direction. With reference to FIGURE 4,it should be understood that the pressure of the contact springs 6 willtend to expand the legs 7 and 9 of the movable contact 4. If this wasallowed to occur in the rst portion of the movement, the contacts 4would not close completely or rotate fully in between the stationarycontacts S and 10; In other words, 'the Idesirable sequence of operationis for the movable contact with its legs 9 and 7 contracted to rotatefully in between the stationary contacts with only initial or reducedpressure and then subsequent rotation of the actuator lever 13 to causethe full contact pressure to be applied. This desirable mode ofoperation is accomplished by means of the projections 52 on theoperating levers 13 and the curved surface S3 of the base 2 which areradial with respect to the pivot pins 5, as shown in FIGURE 4. It isobvious that this arrangement will prevent the operating levers 13 fromrotating relative to the movable contacts 4 or will cause these elementsto rotate in unison until the movable contact is fully closed betweenthe stationary contacts 8 and 10 as shown in FIGURE 5. Actually, themovable contact 4 is stopped in this position by the 6 flare on the tipof the stationary contact 10 and the corresponding Hare on the tip ofthe leg 9 of the movable contact. This is shown in the righthand portionof FIGURE 3. Subsequent or nal clockwise rotation of the operatinglevers will cause the full contact pressure to be applied. This iscaused by the clockwise rotation of ballrace B relative to -ballrace Awhich is stationary in this portion of the movement. It will beunderstood that through all of these movements the ballraces C and Dwith the ball-bearings 14 between provide frictionless rotation of theoperating levers 13 and make possible the ease with which the operatinglevers 13 are able to compress and relax the heavy springs 6.

The mechanism barrier (not shown) may be provided to electricallyisolate the actuator 32 and the main spring from the operating levers 13and other associated elements.

FIGURES 6, 7 and 8 show the general arrangement of the side operatedembodiment of the invention. Here the contactor sub-assemblies are laidover 90 from FIGURES 1 and 2. The operating levers 13 instead of beingoperated by the tie-bar 31 are operated by the bail 60 which has thetube insulator 61 and which is attached directly to the handle 62. It isapparent that a conventional quick make and break mechanism can beinterposed between this bail and the handle.

Although this invention has been described with respect to its preferredembodiments, it should be understood that many variations andmodiiications will now be obvious to those skilled in the art, and it ispreferred, therefore, that the scope of the invention be limited not bythe specific disclosure herein but only by the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive privilege orproperty is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In a switch operating mechanism for a pair of parallel switch bladesrotatable about a common axis and flexible away from and toward oneanother to es tablish high contact pressure lwith cooperating contactmeans; a first and second ballrace adjacent one another; said firstballrace positioned adjacent one side of one of said switch blades andconnected thereto, a biasing spring connected between said switch bladesand exert ing a biasing force to normally deflect said switch bladeswith respect to one another, a pivot pin connected to the other of saidpair of switch blades at one end thereof and pivotally mounting saidswitch blades; said second ballrace connected to the other end of saidpivot pin; said rst and second ballraces having opposing faces; each ofsaid opposing faces including outwardly depressed pocket sectionsextending along a common radius and equally angularl'y spaced from oneanother; said ball means captured between respective opposite pockets ofsaid first and second ballraces; each of said pockets of at least one ofsaid ballraces having a progressively increasing depth at progressivelyincreasing angular positions along said pockets thereby to serve as cammeans to remove said pivot pin and deflect said pair of switch bladeswith respect to one another responsive to rotation of said pivot pinwith respect to said pair of switch blades.

2. The structure substantially as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pairof switch blades comprise the parallel sides of a U-shaped conductor.

3. The structure substantially as set forth in claim 1 which furtherincludes a third and fourth ballraces connected between said other ofsaid switch blades and said pivot pin, and ball means captured betweensaid third and fourth ballraces.

4. The structure substantially as set forth in claim 1 which furtherincludes a rotatable colntact operating lever connected to said pivotpin; said contact operating lever including extending means rotatableinto engagement with at least one of said pair of switch blades after apredetermined rotation of said pivot pin and a predetermined deflectionof said pair of switch blades with respect to one another.

S. The structure substantially as set forth in claim 4 which furtherincludes an overcenter operating mechanism connected to said contactoperating lever.

6. The structure substantially as set forth in claim 2 wherein saidbiasing spring is disposed within said U- shaped conductor; said pivotpin extending through the center of said biasing spring.

7. In a switch operating mechanism for a pair of parallel switch bladesrotatable about a common axis; a first and second ballrace adjacent oneanother; said rst ballrace positioned adjacent one side of one of saidswitch blades and connected thereto, a biasing spring connected betweensaid switch blades and exerting a biasing force to normally deflect saidswitch blades with respect to one another, a pivot pin connected to theother of said pair of switch blades at one end thereof and pivotallymounting said switch blades; said second ballrace connected to the otherend of said pivot pin; said rst and second ballraces having opposingfaces; each of said opposing faces including outwardly' depressed pocketsections extending along a common radius and equally angularly spacedfrom one another; said ball means captured between respective oppositepockets of said rst and second ballraces.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,302,914 12/1942 Crabbs 20C-1622,359,159' 9/1944 Samzelius 200--162 2,828,636 4/1958 Hall 200153.l1 XRROBERT K. SCHAEFER, Primary Examiner.

H. BURKS, Assistant Examiner.

7. IN A SWITCH OPERATING MECHANISM FOR A PAIR OF PARALLEL SWITCH BLADESROTATABLE ABOUT A COMMON AXIS; A FIRST AND SECOND BALLRACE ADJACENT ONEANOTHER; SAID FIRST BALLRACE POSITIONED ADJACENT ONE SIDE OF ONE OF SAIDSWITCH BLADES AND CONNECTED THERETO, A BIASING SPRING CONNECTED BETWEENSAID SWITCH BLADES AND EXERTING A BIASING FORCE TO NORMALLY DEFLECT SAIDSWITCH BLADES WITH RESPECT TO ONE ANOTHER, A PIVOT PIN CONNECTED TO THEOTHER OF SAID PAIR OF SWITCH BLADES AT ONE END THEREOF AND PIVOTALLYMOUNTING SAID SWITCH BLADES; SAID SECOND BALLRACE CONNECTED TO THE OTHEREND OF SAID PIVOT PIN; SAID FIRST AND SECOND BALLRACES HAVING OPPOSINGFACES; EACH OF SAID OPPOSING FACES INCLUDING OUTWARDLY DEPRESSED POCKETSECTIONS EXTENDING ALONG A COMMON RADIUS AND EQUALLY ANGULARLY SPACEDFROM ONE ANOTHER; SAID BALL MEANS CAPTURED BETWEEN RESPECTIVE OPPOSITEPOCKETS OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND BALLRACES.